General Guidelines on                     
                                              
    Classification of Publications            
                                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                                                2015 
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                    Classification of publication outlets into tiers is a difficult process due to the diversity of outlets 
                    in the same specialization and differences among fields of research. Hence, the approach will 
                    require adjustment in each academic area to develop the most suitable system for that particular 
                    academic department. However, the following are universal norms of quality for research 
                    publications that must be present in all high quality publication outlets:  
                       I.     Journals with Impact factor: quality and reputation of the publisher and journal (the 
                              higher the better). 
                               
                      II.     Journals without Impact factor: 
                              -    Independent editorial board for the publishing outlet (journal or publisher).  
                              -    Peer-review of the work before publication is accepted. 
                              -    Scholarly reputation of the publisher: ranking in the field if impact factor is not the 
                                   norm (top tier, second tier, etc.), indexing status. 
                              -    History and background of the publishing outlet: publication of regular issues without 
                                   interruption over an extended period of time. 
                                    
                    III.      Books and book chapters: 
                              Peer-reviewed from reputable publisher known in the field as evidenced by: 
                                        -    Scholarly reputation of the publisher: major international publishers, 
                                             assignment of ISBN for the book. 
                                        -    History and background of the publishing outlet: type of publisher (known 
                                             publishing house, university, non-profit organization) and years in the 
                                             business of publishing. 
                    For the special case of open access online journals, all the above requirements apply. Open 
                    access journals /books & book chapters are not acceptable if payment is required for 
                    publication before the peer-review process is completed and an independent decision is reached 
                    whether to publish the work or reject it. In general, journals considered as probable predatory 
                    scholarly open-access publishers should be avoided. 
                     
                    However, open access/online journals that meet the criteria for traditional journal such as 
                    independent editorial board, peer-review, existence of impact factor or other third party ranking 
                    of quality, and regularity of issues are eligible for ranking the same way standard journals are 
                    ranked. These journals will ask only payment for page cost once the peer-review is 
                    completed.  
                    Departments are requested to use these classification guidelines to generate lists of 
                    publications in each rating tier and share them with their faculty ahead of the appraisal.                                                                          
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                                     Tier Classification of English Publications  
                  
                 Tier 1  
                  
                 High category (3.5-4) 
                 Peer-reviewed publications in one of the following: 
                        Journal with Impact factor that falls in the top 25 percentile ranking based on the impact 
                         factor within the subject, discipline, or sub-disciplinary category (refer to APPENDIX 
                         below); 
                        Journal without Impact factor for Arts that falls in the top category as judged by a third 
                         independent party [e.g. A+ (international with high visibility) category of the European 
                         Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH)]; 
                        Refereed book (or book chapter) by an international publisher with scholarly reputation 
                         (e.g. a major international publishing house or academic press); 
                        Granted patent. 
                  
                 Low Category (3.0-3.4) 
                 Peer-reviewed publications in one of the following: 
                        Journal with Impact factor that falls in the average/middle 50 percentile ranking based on 
                         the impact factor within the subject, discipline, or sub-disciplinary category (refer to 
                         APPENDIX below); 
                        Journal without Impact factor for Arts that falls in the middle category as judged by a 
                         third independent party [e.g. A (international with significant visibility) category of the 
                         European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH)];  
                        Refereed book (or book chapter) by a publisher with a scholarly reputation and a track 
                         record of publishing; 
                        Filed Patent. 
                  
                                                   
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                 Tier 2  
                  
                 High category (2.5-2.9)  
                 Peer-reviewed publications in one of the following: 
                        Journal with Impact factor that falls in the lower 25 percentile ranking based on the 
                         impact factor within the subject, discipline, or sub-disciplinary category (refer to 
                         APPENDIX below); 
                        Journal without Impact factor for Arts that falls in the lower category as judged by a third 
                         independent party [e.g. B (of significance in a particular country) category of the 
                         European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH)];  
                        Book (or book chapter) by a regional or local book publisher with ISBN; 
                        Full paper published in peer reviewed proceedings of an international conference. 
                  
                 Low category (2.0-2.4) 
                        Paper published in peer-reviewed journal but without impact factor;  
                        Refereed book ; 
                        Peer-reviewed  full paper published in conference proceedings;  
                        Peer-reviewed book chapter; 
                        Peer-reviewed publication in recognized regional medium in the discipline. 
                  
                 Tier 3 (0-1.9) 
                        All non-peer-reviewed publications*; 
                        Full paper published in regional or national conference proceedings; 
                        Scholarly creative work**. 
                  
                  
                 *Priority given to publishers with name recognition in the field,  
                 **Scholarly creative is considered high when the work is the norm in the field and receives 
                 awards and/or acclaims from people or organizations outside the university, it can move to tier 3 
                 or 2 in special cases. Justification and evidence for this must be provided by the faculty member 
                 and approved by the Department/ Unit leadership. Examples of these works are documentaries, 
                 movies, novels, creative art, music and plays, non-refereed books that receive major award. 
                  
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